serializer.net expands!

Acclaimed avant-garde online webcomics anthology http://www.serializer.net, a sister site to Modern Tales, the leading publisher of subscription-based webcomics, announced this week the debut of five new series from five acclaimed comix creators.

“Paradise Place” by Bishakh Som
Debuting Monday 8/4/03

Monday debuts “Paradise Place”, by Bishakh Som, co-publisher of Hi-Horse and recent recipient of a grant from the Xeric Foundation. “Paradise Place” looks at race and gender relations in a fantastical landscape in a story with Som’s signature rich visual identity known for its lush organic shapes and rigorous architectural spaces.

Other work by Bishakh Som can be seen in the acclaimed Hi-horse anthology and in the forthcoming Legal Action Comics, Vol. 2. An overview of old and new comics will be available in the Xeric-winning collection Angel which will be published early 2004.

The current 18-page episode of “Paradise Place” can be found:
here.

More Bishakh Som work can be seen at hi-horse.com

“Louis- Red Letter Day” by Metaphrog
Debuting Tuesday 8/5/03

On Tuesday, comics duo Metaphrog begin the serialization of their mysterious children’s tale, Louis- Red Letter Day. Originally published as a graphic novel in the U.K. and now out of print, Louis – Red Letter Day is the initial adventure in a line of Louis books that have garnered critical acclaim and multiple Ignatz and Eisner Award nominations as well as winning a Scottish Arts Council Award for Literature.

A scary-cute story designed to make children of all ages laugh and cry, a sort of childhood Brave New World, “the book is currently out of print so its appearance on serializer.net is indeed timely and a great way to bring it to a wider audience by making it available again,” say the creators.

The Franco-Scottish duo Metaphrog came into being in 1996 and have been creating and publishing comics ever since. Their Strange Weather Lately was the first comic ever to appear at the Edinburgh International Book Festival and has attracted a growing cult following.

“Web based comics are ideal for discovering interesting new work and a creator friendly site like serializer.net is perfect for encouraging new comic creators and for supporting the comic medium,” they added.

More Metaphrog work can be seen at megaphrog.com

“Dwarf Attack” by Greg Stump
Debuting Wednesday 8/6/03

Wednesday sees the debut of “Dwarf Attack”, by cartoonist Greg Stump, most know for his work for Alternative Comics in Urban Hipster.

Stump and fellow ex-Fantagraphics employee David Lasky have been creating Urban Hipster since1998. Their first issue was nominated for a Harvey Award for Best New Series. However, it would be four years before the second issue was published, leading Stump to create a completely different kind of comic while biding his time.

“I decided to focus on that for a while and do half-page strips — much more esoteric than Urban Hipster, and set in a stranger sort of ‘world’. I wanted the freedom to do whatever I wanted each time I sat down to draw a comic, without being beholden to longer stories with the same characters … although eventually I found that I enjoyed returning to many of them to try to make the strip broader than just weird little jokes.”

In 2000, these strips started running in the weekly paper The Portland Mercury under the title “Dwarf Attack” and ran in Seattle’s The Stranger for two years as well. “Dwarf Attack” now runs in the Mercury in color every week, which Stump said makes him more enthusiastic about putting it up on the Web.

“Not all of the work I’ve done would look good on a computer screen,” he said. “As I’ve moved to color I’ve been forced to simplify and streamline my style quite a bit, which has turned out to be a good thing.”

Stump’s current projects include working on Urban Hipster #3 and a book edition of “Dwarf Attack” for next year.

Other Greg Stump on the web: indyworld.com/uh

Mjau Mjau Archives by Jason
Debuting Thursday 8/7/03

Norweigan Fan Favorite Jason digs into the vaults of his Mjau Mjau work with 30 strips appearing in English for the first time.

John Arne Saeteröy, who signs his work as Jason, started his comics career when he was only fifteen years old, publishing in a Norwegian magazine. After attending the Art Academy of Oslo, he began drawing realistically drawn comics, but later founded the magazine Mjau Mjau and developed his own style employing animals as his main characters, inspired by Lewis Trondheim, Jim Woodring and Tex Avery. His recent graphic novel, Hey…Wait was widely acclaimed and his publisher, Fantagraphics, released his most recent book, The Iron Wagon in July.

These untitled strips, featuring a cactus, several ghosts and a ball-and-chain type of cartoon convict are notable for their economic and exact use of the microcosmic cartoon strip language mastered by early cartooning pioneers like George Herriman and others, and show Jason exploring the American cartooning idiom that originally inspired him.

More Jason Work can be seen at mjaumjau.net

Serializer Showcase
Debuting Friday 8/8/03 with Jessica Grilihas

Serializer Showcase, the long-awaited showcase for one-shot stories by rotating artists begins Friday with work by “Squirrel and Crow” creator Jessica Grilihas. Grilihas’s entry is more than 20 pages long, featuring her “Squirrel and Crow” stories, along side less seen work like “Steamers” and “50 cent Waltz.”

“I want Serializer Showcase to be a place for young or relatively unknown cartoonists to be seen. Grilihas’s work is the perfect jumping off point: she has a great sense of humor and an emerging voice that I think the serializer.net audiences will appreciate.

Other creators lined up for inclusion in the Serializer Showcase slot include Tim Hamilton, Adam Berenstain and mini-comics favorite Souther Salazar. The Serializer Showcase slot will rotate every 3-6 weeks, and is edited by serializer.net editor Tom Hart with Studygroup12 editor Zack Soto.

Serializer.net is the premier site for alternative web comics, and is the home of more than 20 updating strips exemplary cartoonists such as Phil Elliott, Tom Hart, Derek Kirk, Highwater Publisher Tom Devlin, and recent Harvey-Award winner Nick Bertozzi.

For further information:
Tom Hart, Editor, www.serializer.net
tomhart@newhatstories.com

Joey Manley, Publisher
joey@moderntales.com

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